08/03/2021 U.S.: Nine in 10 See a Woman Leading the U.S.

in 10 Years


M ARCH 8, 2021

U.S.: Nine in 10 See a Woman Leading the

U.S. in 10 Years
BY RJ RE INHART

STORY HIGHLIGHT S

93% in U.S. see the possibility of a female leader in the next decade
26% would prefer a female manager, while 46% have no preference
64% say #MeToo movement helps reduce sexual harassment and assault

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Fitting with the U.N.'s theme for International Women's Day this year -- women in
leadership -- Gallup looks at the never-before-released results on a series of questions
that we asked on this topic in 2019 and early 2020.

Gallup asked women and men in 74 countries -- including the U.S. -- questions in four
areas that are key to starting conversations in an action-driven way: women's leadership
in politics and in the workplace, their opportunities for education, and whether
movements such as #MeToo help to reduce harassment and sexual abuse of women.

Nearly All Americans Think a Woman Could Be Their

Country's Leader in 10 Years

While women in the U.S. have yet to shatter the presidential glass ceiling, Americans
almost universally think it is possible for the country to have a female leader within the
next 10 years. Notably, 93% of U.S. adults said this when Gallup asked the question in
February 2020, amid an election cycle in which a record seven women ran for president,
with one of them going on to become the country's first female vice president.

At that time, nearly all women -- and men -- saw a female leader as a possibility, with
92% of women and 94% of men saying this could happen within a decade. At least nine
in 10 Americans in all major demographic groups saw this as a possibility.

More Than Nine in 10 Americans Say It Is Possible a Woman Will Lead the U.S. in the Next
Decade

In your opinion, is it possible or not possible that a woman could be the leader of this country within the
next 10 years?

Possible Not possible

% %

All Americans 93 7

GALLUP, FEB. 17-28, 2020

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Possible Not possible

% %

Gender
Male 94 6
Female 92 7

Age
18-29 98 2
30-49 94 6
50-64 92 8
65+ 90 10

GALLUP, FEB. 17-28, 2020

The U.S. tops the list of the 74 countries where this question was asked. Other countries
in the top 10, with the highest percentages of the population saying it's possible for a
woman to lead the country someday soon, include several that have had female heads
of state, including Chile, Argentina and Costa Rica. Nearly 60 countries around the world
have had a female leader since the 1960s.

Top 10 Countries Most Likely to Say a Woman Could Lead Their Country

In your opinion, is it possible or not possible that a woman could be the leader of this country within the
next 10 years?

Possible
%

United States 93

Uruguay 92

Venezuela 92

Chile 91

Argentina 90

Colombia 90

Panama 89

Mexico 89

GALLUP, FEB. 17-28, 2020; GALLU P WOR LD POLL , 2019

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Possible
%

Ecuador 88

Costa Rica 88

GALLUP, FEB. 17-28, 2020; GALLU P WOR LD POLL , 2019

Nearly Half in U.S. Have No Gender Preference for Managers

Although men still make up the majority of managers in the U.S., women have obtained
the majority of the nearly 5 million new jobs in management created since 1980.

For a fairly sizable percentage of Americans, whether their manager is a woman or a man
makes little difference. Nearly half of Americans in 2020 (46%) said they have no
preference in whether their manager is a man or a woman. Americans who did have a
preference divided evenly between preferring a male (27%) or a female (26%) manager.

Men (58%) were far more likely than women (35%) to say they have no gender
preference for a manager. However, both women and men who had a preference were
evenly divided over which gender they preferred for a new manager.

Americans' preferences differed more by age than by gender -- but even those
differences were relatively small. Younger Americans tended to prefer a female manager,
while older adults slightly favored a male manager.

Nearly Half of Americans Have No Preference for the Gender of Their Manager

Suppose you were taking a new job and had your choice of a manager. Would you prefer to work for a man
or a woman?

Man Woman No preference (vol.)

% % %

All Americans 27 26 46

(vol.) = volunteered response

GALLUP, FEB. 17-28, 2020

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Man Woman No preference (vol.)

% % %

Gender
Male 22 19 58
Female 31 33 35

Age
18-29 27 34 38
30-49 22 26 51
50-64 28 24 47
65+ 33 22 45

(vol.) = volunteered response

GALLUP, FEB. 17-28, 2020

As in the U.S., substantial proportions of residents in the Organisation for Economic Co-
operation and Development member states that were surveyed do not have a gender
preference for a manager.

Among those with a preference, Americans were the most closely divided. But while
Americans were split between preferring a male versus a female manager, residents of
Mexico and Chile showed a clear preference for a female manager. Residents with a
preference in the other OECD countries preferred a man.

Prefer for Manager Gender Among Select OECD Countries*

Suppose you were taking a new job and had your choice of a manager. Would you prefer to work for a man
or a woman?

Woman Man No preference (vol.)

% % %

Mexico 41 15 40

Chile 37 24 37

United States of America 26 27 46

*This question was not asked in other OECD countries; (vol.) = Volunteered response

GALLUP, FEB 17-28, 2020; GALLU P WOR LD POLL , 2019

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Woman Man No preference (vol.)

% % %

Israel 23 35 40

Slovakia 23 47 26

Poland 20 29 42

Greece 19 31 48

Lithuania 16 22 45

Hungary 15 35 46

Latvia 10 43 41

Estonia 9 30 58

*This question was not asked in other OECD countries; (vol.) = Volunteered response

GALLUP, FEB 17-28, 2020; GALLU P WOR LD POLL , 2019

Americans' Views of Equality for Women in Education

Although women outnumber men on U.S. college campuses and have for years,
Americans still lean toward giving an available university scholarship to a woman rather
than a man in situations where a male and female candidate are equally qualified. While
43% volunteered that it would depend or they would give the scholarship to either a man
or a woman, 38% said they would give the scholarship to a woman and just 10% would
give it to a man.

Americans' Views on Awarding a Scholarship to an Equally Qualified Man or Woman

Suppose a university is going to give just ONE scholarship that pays all expenses related to education.
There are two people who are equally qualified -- a young man and a young woman. In your opinion, who
should receive this scholarship, the man or the woman?

The man The woman Either/It depends (vol.)

% % %

All Americans 10 38 43

(vol.) = Volunteered response

GALLUP, FEB. 17-28, 2020

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The man The woman Either/It depends (vol.)

% % %

Gender
Male 11 29 50
Female 8 47 37

Age
18-29 14 40 39
30-49 5 39 46
50-64 9 40 41
65+ 14 34 44

(vol.) = Volunteered response

GALLUP, FEB. 17-28, 2020

About three in 10 U.S. men (29%) say they would award the scholarship to the female
candidate, compared with nearly half of U.S. women (47%). With most of the rest not
saying who should get the scholarship, relatively few men (11%) or women (8%) say they
would opt for the male candidate.

Nearly Two-Thirds of Americans Said the #MeToo Movement

Reduces Violence

While the #MeToo movement first emerged in the U.S. in 2006, it rose to national and
then international prominence in 2017. Two years on, Gallup measured the perceived
influence the movement had in 74 countries.

Nearly two in three U.S. adults (64%) indicated they believe the movement has reduced
sexual harassment and abuse of women in their country. There was little difference
between men's and women's views on the issue, with 63% of men and 65% of women
both agreeing that #MeToo has reduced harassment and violence.

Nearly Two-Thirds of Americans Say Movements Like #MeToo Help Reduce Harassment and
Sexual Abuse of Women in the U.S.

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"MeToo" is a worldwide movement to publicly condemn sexual harassment and sexual assault of women.
Do you think movements like MeToo help to reduce harassment and sexual abuse of women in this
country?

Yes No Never heard of (vol.)

% % %

All Americans 64 32 3

Gender
Male 63 34 3
Female 65 31 3

Age
18-29 68 29 2
30-49 61 32 6
50-64 63 34 0
65+ 64 33 2

(vol.) = volunteered response

GALLUP, FEB. 17-28, 2020

Given that the #MeToo movement originated in the U.S., it's not that surprising that
Americans are more likely than those outside the U.S. to have heard of it and to have an
opinion about it. In the U.S., the movement has been credited with inspiring new
legislation and workplace rules intended to protect women from harassment and
assault.

Compared with residents of other OECD countries, Americans are the most likely to say
similar movements have had an effect. However, in most countries, those who have
heard of #MeToo are more likely to say it has helped reduce harassment and sexual
abuse of women than not.

Perceptions of the Impact of Movements Like #MeToo in Select OECD Countries*

"MeToo" is a worldwide movement to publicly condemn sexual harassment and sexual assault of women.
Do you think movements like MeToo help to reduce harassment and sexual abuse of women in this
country?

Yes No Never heard of (vol.)

% % %

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Yes No Never heard of (vol.)

% % %

United States of America 64 32 3

Mexico 51 33 7

Israel 50 20 23

Chile 46 25 25

Greece 39 13 43

Hungary 36 20 38

Lithuania 28 19 42

Estonia 26 18 43

Slovakia 26 23 45

Poland 25 16 50

Latvia 18 14 57

*This question was not asked in other OECD countries; (vol.) = volunteered response

GALLUP, FEB. 17-28, 2020; GALLU P WOR LD POLL , 2019

Implications

As Americans ponder the future of female leadership and gender equality this
International Women's Day, there are definite bright spots for the country. Even before
the election of Kamala Harris to the second-highest office in the land, the vast majority
of Americans saw the prospect of a woman leading the country within the next decade
as a real possibility.

Additionally, 72% of Americans would either prefer a female manager or have no

preference for the gender of that person. These developments largely point to a
substantial comfort with or expectation of female leaders at both the highest level of
society and the level nearest to the people.

For complete methodology and specific survey dates, please review Gallup's Country
Data Set details.

Learn more about how the Gallup World Poll works.

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SURVE Y ME THODS


Results for this U.S. Gallup poll are based on telephone interviews conducted Feb. 17-28,
2020, with a random sample of 1,020 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states
and the District of Columbia. For results based on the total sample of national adults, the
margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. All
reported margins of sampling error include computed design effects for weighting.

Each sample of national adults includes a minimum quota of 70% cellphone

respondents and 30% landline respondents, with additional minimum quotas by time
zone within region. Landline and cellular telephone numbers are selected using random-
digit-dial methods.

Results for the World Poll are based on face-to-face interviews conducted in 2019, with
a random sample of 1,000 adults in each country, aged 15 and older. For results based
on the total sample of national adults, the margin of sampling error ranges from ±3.2 to
±5.4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. All reported margins of sampling
error include computed design effects for weighting.

RELEASE DATE: March 8, 2021

SOURCE: Gallup https://news.gallup.com/poll/330530/u.s.-nine-woman-leading-u.s.-years.aspx
CONTACT: Gallup World Headquarters, 901 F Street, Washington, D.C., 20001, U.S.A
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